Rolly World
by Pinkmoon
Summary: A roller skating rink? That's were my "ingenious" brother decides to take us on our dates with our stepsisters? Is he crazy? A DaseyLizwin story. Sequel to Shoelaces
1. Roller Skating?

Rolly World

By Pinkmoon

Disclaimer: Of course, I do not own 'Life with Derek' or anything involve with it or any songs that you may recognize. But Rolly World and any characters you do not recognize belong to me.

AN: This is the long awaited sequel to "Shoelaces" with references to "A Purple Polka-Dotted Elephant". I'm sorry it took me so long to write this but I'm on spring break, and this story is finished. It's just a matter of me typing it up, so updates should be in a timely fashion.

AN 2: The story changes point of view between Lizzie and Edwin. In an effort to eliminate confusion, I used line breaks because Document Manager wouldn't let me use breaks like I wanted. Anyways, hope you enjoy.

* * *

"Marti, calm down," Derek ordered from the driver seat. I glanced over Marti's head at Lizzie and wondered again if this was a good idea. 

I don't know how he did it (he refuses to give me any details) but Derek managed to convince Casey that Lizzie and I were the perfect couple and it was up to them to get us together. Unbeknown to Casey, the whole scheme was Derek's way of getting Casey to go out on a date with him. So he got Lizzie in on the plan (I still question his judgment on that move) and somehow the two of them managed to wear Casey down. So to make this even more complicated, I like Lizzie and the pseudo-date was my way of revealing my feelings to her and hopefully learn that she feels the same. But then she already knows how I feel about her because Derek told her when he found out about Lizzie's crush on him but that's another story. Hopelessly Confused? Me too.

We were in Derek's 1995 Chevy that he got for his sixteenth birthday ten months ago from Grandpa and Grandma Winston, my mother's parents. Dad and Nora adamantly refused to get him one, despite the fact that he had taken Driver's Ed and was, surprisingly, a decent driver.

Casey and Derek sat in the front with Lizzie, Marti, and me in the back. Ah yes, Marti, tonight's small glitch in Derek's perfect plan. Our cover had been that we, as siblings, never got to do anything together and wanted to do some bonding. Casey was the one who thought up this brilliant explanation. Well, Dad and Nora didn't want poor Marti to feel left out so they said that she had to come to. This ruined Derek's plans of a night at the movies. Claimed he didn't feel right about making out with a six year old next to him. I just don't get how he thought he and Casey would be making out on their first date. He's not that good, right?

But anyways, Derek changed our date location, refused to tell anyone what it was and woke us up at nine a.m. on a Saturday. After some yelling on Casey's part, a little of chasing Marti around the house, and a bit of a disaster at cooking breakfast, we all piled into Derek's car. And here we have remained for the past half hour.

"Smerek, I'm bored," Marti whined as I turned to stare out the window. I heard him sigh and tell Casey "Look in my CD holder. I think there's something in there that might keep her entertained."

I mentally groaned. I hated listening to little kid music.

"Is this it?" Casey asked.

"It works."

Casey placed the CD in and suddenly, loud, Jamaican music bombarded my senses and the voice of everyone's favorite lobster began to sing. Marti immediately began to squeal along.

"The seaweed is always greener

In somebody else's lake

You dream about going up there

But that is a big mistake …"

I had forgotten about this CD. Derek burned some songs from Disney movies onto a CD as a birthday present for Marti. He made sure to include her favorites_: Cinderella, The Little Mermaid, Beauty and the Beast_, every love story Disney ever produced. Marti loved it and pretty much played it all the time, which left me wondering why it was in Derek's car.

Marti continued to sing merrily, while the rest of us remained silent. There was an unbearable awkwardness in the car. At least for Casey, Lizzie, and me there was. Marti was to innocence to pick up on anything and Derek was behaving like his confident, cool self.

"So, Case, how's your balance?" Derek asked suddenly. I saw him smirking in the rearview mirror. What was he up to?

"Good. Why?" Casey answered, eyes narrowed, watching him.

"No reason," he said flippantly, smirk widening.

I glanced at Lizzie. She looked at me. Derek was definitely up to something. Not good.

* * *

He asked Casey about her balance. Why would he ask about that? I broke my gaze with Edwin and started contemplating. The only thing I could figure was that it had to do with skating but the ice rink he had taken me was in the other direction.

My face burned some as I remembered the ice rink, then Derek, then Edwin. Edwin, I still didn't know how I felt about him. Was I settling? Did I want to go out with Edwin because Derek was an impossibility? I wasn't sure and I hoped that this date would provide me with answers.

I was surprised when Derek came to me to ask for help in winning Casey's affections and when he asked if I liked Edwin. He said that Edwin still liked me and before this got to out of hand, he wanted to know how I felt. I told him the truth about my uncertainties and decide that this date would help me figure it out.

So Derek and I conspired to convince Casey that I liked Edwin and I wanted to go out with him and that having Casey and Derek there was the only way. Of course, Casey fought it and almost told Mom. Somehow, though, Derek managed to talk her out of it. I don't know what he said because he sent me out of the room but whatever it was, it worked.

Eventually, we told Casey that the plan was that she and Derek would pretend to like each other and the only excuse they could think of to go on a date was a "sibling bonding experience" and take Edwin and me along. That way I could finally figure out if Edwin liked me.

Casey was so mad this morning when Derek woke us up. She said he hadn't given us enough time to get ready to which he only rolled his eyes. Really he hadn't given _her_ enough time. Casey forced me to watch her try on five different outfits before she was finally happy.

She wore a white buttoned shirt with a floral print all over it and black jeans. Her hair was pulled back into a ponytail and she had on long dangly earrings. I had just opted for blue jeans and a green shirt with my hair pulled back into a braid which was kind of weird because Derek was wearing the same thing, minus the braid. The only difference being his jeans had been so faded they looked white with a hole ripped in one of the knees. Edwin wore some black, band t-shirt and dark jeans. Marti sported an odd combination of a striped purple and yellow shirt with red pants. I think Derek dressed her and let her wear whatever she wanted.

Derek turned off the highway and onto a road that looked abandon. There were old buildings that looked like they needed to be demolished. Any parked car we saw looked rusted and broken down. One didn't even have any tires. It just sat on cement blocks. The road itself was rough, causing us to bounce out of our seats every now and then. I had the pleasure of hearing Marti squeal in my ear each time. Where on Earth was Derek taking us?

Derek turned the wheel and I looked at the building. I turned to glance at a wide-eyed Edwin. This was going to be interesting.

* * *

A roller skating rink? _A roller skating rink? _That's were my "ingenious" brother decides to take us? He knows that I can't skate. Last time I went to one of these, I crashed into someone and ended up breaking their finger. What does Derek want me to do? Break Lizzie's leg so she's bed ridden and I have to take care of her? Like that will cause her to like me.

I glared at the back of his head as he pulled into a parking lot. There weren't a lot of cars around. I wondered if the place is even opened. Maybe its condemned and Derek will have to take us somewhere else. I mean, the place looked like it was about to fall apart. The cement walls were covered in filth and the glass doors had a couple of cracks. Painted above the door in huge, block letters were the words _Rolly World Roller Skating Rink_.

"Derek, a roller skating rink?" Casey asked as she peered out of the windshield. Hesitation and uncertainty rang clear in her voice.

"Yes," he answered, "I thought it would be different and given who we had to bring along, about as date worthy as we're going to get." He nodded toward Marti and unbuckled his seatbelt and opened his door. Casey huffed but followed suit. Those of us in the back quickly undid our seatbelts and got out.

We followed Derek inside, Marti chattering away about someone named Ariel and how the prince should have kissed her sooner. I really didn't know what she was talking about. Derek nodded and gave an occasional "Uh-uh" and "Oh, really?" He didn't know what she was talking about either.

Derek opened the glass door and we walked inside a narrow room. Dull, red carpet, ripped in some places blanketed the floor. Paint flaked off the wine colored walls. A teenage girl sat at a fold out dinner tray near the door that lead into the actual rink. Her blond hair hung in waves about her face and over her red and white stripe clad shoulders. She lifted her green eyes up from the magazine she had been reading and watched us with a bored expression.

"Welcome to Rolly World, the best rink this side of the city. Regular admission is $5.00. Twelve and under $3.00," she explained in a monotone voice.

"I know, Mara," Derek mumbled as he dug his wallet out of his pocket.

"Mandatory, Theodoric, darling," she said in that same dull voice.

"His name isn't Theodoric. It's Derek," Marti cried as Derek pulled out a twenty and a five dollar bill.

"It's just a nickname I have for him," Mara explained as Derek handed the money to her. She counted it, put in a cigar box that was on the table, gave Derek his change, and waved us inside the rink.

"Theodoric?" Casey asked once we were inside.

"Yeah, she claims that Derek is a Low German variant of Theodoric. Insists on calling me that," Derek explained as I looked around in shock. The rink itself looked surprisingly decent. The wooden floor shown brightly, not warped like I had expected. The carpet in here was a dark blue with small planets sprinkled about. Walls were painted black and there were spot lights of different colors. Some rap song was playing and a few people were already skating to it.

On one side of the rink was a food court. A couple was already sitting at a neon colored table. They were sharing a coke, gazing into each others eyes and giggling excessively. There was a video game arcade on the other side, set off in a room by itself. No one was in there.

Derek led us to get rental skates. An old man was standing behind the counter, wearing the same shirt Mara had been wearing and a name tag. The top of his head was bald, with white hair just above his ears and running around his head. Blue eyes were surrounded by wrinkles and his smile created more.

"Derek, what a surprise. I haven't seen you in ages!" he cried.

"It's only been two weeks," Derek smiled and I started wondering just how often Derek came here.

"Ages," the man reaffirmed. "Well, who is this?"

"Casey, Lizzie, Marti, and Edwin," Derek introduced, pointing to each of us. "This is Mr. Charles Parker. He owns the place."

"So you're the siblings I've heard so much about," Mr. Parker smiled.

"Oh, really?" Casey asked, sending Derek a look. No telling what Derek's told him about our nutty family.

"Yes. If memory serves correct, Casey is the smart one, Lizzie's the tomboy, Edwin's the computer genius, and Marti is the fun one," Mr. Parker grinned a small, knowing grin as we all gave Derek's looks that he ignored.

"Mr. Parker, can we get some skates?" Derek asked, annoyance lacing his voice.

"Of course, Derek. How forgetful of me." Mr. Parker didn't sound the least bit concerned. We slipped our shoes off as Mr. Parker went and got Derek roller blades immediately. Derek handed him his shoes and grabbed the blades.

"Smarti, what size shoe do you wear?" Derek asked. She shrugged and he sighed. He reached down and grabbed her shoes. He looked at the bottom.

"She needs a size seven," he said, handing Mr. Parker the shoes. The rest of us gave up our shoes and received regular roller skates. We went to sit down and put them on. Casey helped Marti tie hers and then, we just sat there for a moment.

"We don't have to be back until six," Derek began, "So I'm guessing we leave at five thirty. Marti'll stay with me and Casey for the first hour and then she'll be with you two. We'll switch back and forth like that. That okay with you, Smarti?"

He looked down at her as he asked. She nodded vigorously.

"Any objections?" he asked the rest of us. We shook our heads no. No one really knew what to say.

Derek stood and grabbed Marti's hand and helped her stand. Casey stood. Derek grabbed her hand. Casey's gaze jumped from his face to their joined hands and back to his face. Derek raised an eyebrow at her and they stared at each other for a moment. Then Derek pulled both girls unto the wooden floor and off they went.

I glanced at Lizzie. We were alone.

* * *

Well, now what? It was almost ten which meant that I had ten hours to kill with Edwin. I mean, before this crush thing, that wouldn't have been so bad. But now, neither of us knew how the other felt. All we had to go on was Derek's word. And even that wasn't much.

"So…do you like skating?" Edwin asked hesitantly.

"I guess. Why?" I looked up at him. Where was this going?

"I thought we could go to the arcade first. I got some change."

"Sure." We stood and I grabbed the rail around the rink to help me gain my balance. Edwin's skates began to slip as he tried to take a step. He grabbed the rail and clung to it as he haphazardly regained his equilibrium

I raised an eyebrow at him. He grinned sheepishly at me.

"I've never been good at this," he mumbled and straightened up. I smiled but refrained from saying anything.

Once we were in the arcade, we paused to look around. It looked abandoned. There was absolutely no one in there. A couple of pinball machines lined one wall. A racing game with the seats and steering wheel sat against another. There was a Pac-Man game, a few other video games I had never heard of, and a dollar-to-coins machine at the entrance. And in the center of the room was an air hockey table.

"What do you want to do first?" I asked, turning my head to Edwin.

He shrugged, "I guess we can start off with air hockey."

I took my place at one side of the table and he took the other. He fed the table his money and the game began. My date with my step-brother officially began. My stomach began twisting.

* * *

Well, please review and tell me what you think. 

Pinkmoon


	2. Almost kisses

Rolly World

By Pinkmoon

Disclaimer: I do not own Life with Derek or any thing else you might recognize.

AN: Thanks everyone for the reviews and all the nice things you said. I'm glad everyone is enjoying it so far.

* * *

Lizzie and I spent the next three hours hanging out in the arcade. She had beaten me four times at air hockey. I had beaten her at the racing game three times. Then Derek dropped Marti off and we played Pac-Man with her for that whole hour. I despise Pac-Man now.

Then Derek and Casey came in. Casey's eyes jumped around a lot and she seemed jittery. Her smile was tight and her voice had a slight edge to it. Derek, on the other hand, smiled and kept trying to touch Casey, like grab her hand or put his arm around her. She managed to escape him every time. Just what did he do out there?

They stood around, watching us play with Marti and debated about which game to play for about twenty minutes. They finally decided on air hockey and began a round of taunts and insults.

"So, Case, you want to make this interesting?" Derek asked, giving the game his dollar and placing the disk on the table.

"What do you mean?" she asked as he slammed the disk in her direction. She knocked it back and watched it zigzag toward him. I glanced over at them before Marti's cry of defeat forced my attention back to our game.

"Let's make a wager," Derek grinned at her. Lizzie and I both looked over at the two, watching them hit the disk back and forth.

"Don't you remember? My betting days are over, Venturi," Casey smiled sweetly at him as the disk slid right into his slot.

Derek smiled back and put the disk back on the table. "Trust me, Casey, you'll like this."

He hit the disk so it created a zigzag and slid smoothly into Casey's slot. All-or-Nothing Competition, here we come.

"I'm listening," she answered, placing the disk on the table and beginning the game again.

"Alright," Derek smirked, "You win and we play whatever you want next. I win and I get to kiss you."

Way to be subtle, big bro, I thought sarcastically. Marti was completely forgotten. Casey and Derek had my undivided attention.

"What!" Casey screeched. Her face was priceless. Her mouth hung open and her eyes were wide. Derek chuckled a little at her expression and watched the disk enter her slot.

"You heard, MacDonald. What, you're not afraid you'll lose?" he taunted, smirking all the while. She glared and slammed the disk on the table.

"Hardly. I just hate to see you so disappointed, especially when you get beat by a girl." She hit the disk and the game was back on.

"So we have a deal?" he asked. The disk slid back and forth, back and forth.

"It's a deal." The disk slid into Derek's slot. He smiled. "Good."

Lizzie and I stayed and watched them battle it out. They remained tied until the last point. Casey took up a defensive strategy while Derek, always her opposite, took up an offensive one. They went on like this for about five minutes until disk finally slid into a slot. It was Casey's.

"You cheated," were the first words out of her mouth.

"How could I have cheated?" he asked as he walked over to her.

"I don't know. But you must have," Casey gasped, watching wide-eyed as he stood in front of her.

"You're being ridiculous," he smiled as he began to lean in. Alas, wrong thing to say. Casey's face slowly changed from one of confusion and trepidation to anger. Derek never noticed, eyes closed as he closed the distance between their lips.

"I'm being ridiculous?" she breathed dangerously, Derek centimeters from her face. He stopped, recognizing the sound he had become so familiar with and opened his eyes.

"Yes, you are," he stated calmly, and began his descent once again. Casey stepped back just before he reached her lips.

"Oh, so it ridiculous to be dreading a kiss I didn't want in the first place?" she placed her hands on her hips. Derek rolled his eyes and crossed his arms over his chest.

"You agreed to the deal."

"But I wasn't expecting to lose," she fumed.

"That's the most unreasonable thing I've ever heard of. Honestly you're being…"

"Edwin," Lizzie whispered in my ear, causing me to shiver, "Do you want to get out of here before they realize we're still here?"

I nodded and we skated away. Well, now it's either skating or the food court. I really didn't want to skate and make myself look like an idiot. Especially in front of Lizzie. I still had a few dollars left so I guess that meant the food court.

"Are you thirsty?" I asked Lizzie.

"Um, yeah, I guess so," she exclaimed, a slightly surprised look on her face. I nodded and began to head that way. I don't know why, but it's always been easier for me to skate on carpet than on hard wood floors. I guess there's more friction or something. So except that mishap at the beginning, Lizzie had no idea of how bad a skater I really was.

We reached the food court and got in line behind a family of five. Two boys and one girl, all under the age of seven. It reminded me of my family before the divorce: absolute chaos. Ah, good times. I took the time to glance over the menu. Dr. Pepper or Coke? Coke or Dr. Pepper? Which to choose? Which had the most caffeine? Did I mention that I love caffeine?

The family finally got their order and left. Lizzie and I walked up to the cashier. It was another teenage girl. Brown, curly hair pulled into a ponytail, dark green eyes. She was short, could barely see over the case register. She wore the same red and white shirt all the other workers adorned. She smiled at us immediately.

"Hello and thank you for skating at Rolly World. What can I get you?" she chirped.

"You go first," I mumbled to Lizzie, still debating between Coke and Dr. Pepper. She shrugged and turned to the girl.

"Um, I'll have a Sprite, please," she said. Miss Preppy nodded enthusiastically as she punched in Lizzie's order.

"One Sprite. And what would you like sir?" she asked cheerfully.

"Uh, a Coke," I answered. Why did she work the cash register in the food court? One would think she would have Mara's job. She pressed a button and grinned at us.

"That'll be three fifty," she declared proudly. I fished the money out of my pocket and gave it to her.

"Thank you. Just one moment and you'll have the best drinks this side of the city," she chirped, turned around and began to fix our drinks.

I looked over at Lizzie. She looked like she was trying to keep from laughing. The music changed suddenly from the heavy metal song that hand been playing to some old, classic rock song. It was like something that played on the radio station Dad listened to.

"Guess Chris's taken over," I heard Cashier Girl mumble. She turned back around, drinks in hand, and grinned once more. "Here you are. Thank you and have a great time skating."

We took the drinks and sat down at one of the orange booths. I slid into one of the seats. Lizzie stood there for a moment, indecision on her face. Then, surprisingly she slid into the next to me, not across from me. I couldn't keep the smile off my face.

* * *

Ugh, this was crazy. My stomach was tightening the way it used to when Derek sat next to me. Was I really developing a crush on Edwin? I mean, wasn't it too soon? Or did that prove what I felt for Derek was fictitious? Or what I feel for Edwin? Why did I even agree to this? Why did I even sit here?

I sipped at my drink to hide the fact that I couldn't think of anything to say. I glanced at Edwin out of the corner of my eye. He was smiling. One of those big, cheesy grins. Was Derek right? Did Edwin really like me? This was so confusing. Especially with Derek's plan thrown in. No one knew how anyone really felt.

"So are you having fun?" I heard Edwin ask. I turned to him and quickly conjured a smile.

"Yeah, I am. And we haven't even gong skating yet." His face tightened some but otherwise, his expression didn't change. Weird.

"Yeah, looking forward to that," he mumbled.

"So, Casey and Derek seem to be having a good time." When did talking to Edwin become so awkward?

"If they haven't killed each other yet," Edwin grinned.

"They wouldn't. Not in front of Marti," I exclaim in a mock-scandalized tone.

"Marti would probably be cheering them along," Edwin sighed and shook his head oh so sadly.

I laughed. He grinned. Our gazes caught and something changed. I never noticed just how brown his eyes were. Dark, almost like chocolate. Smooth in color, like melted chocolate. But his eyes weren't focused on mine; they were gazing at my lips. Oh my…was he…was he really…

He was going to kiss me.

"Uh…I…ah…have to, have to go to the-the bathroom," I stuttered in a rush of breath and shot out of my seat. I never turned around to look at him as I skated out of the food court.

Casey. I had to talk to Casey. Where was Casey? With Derek and Marti. Hmm. Maybe I should talk with Derek. No. He was the one who got me into this mess. Derek was out, Casey back in. Arcade. Casey right were I left her. Still yelling out threats to Derek and playing air hockey. Never thought she would actually enjoy that.

"Casey," I exclaimed urgently as I roll up next to her.

"Yes?" she mumbled absently, hitting the disk back to Derek. I watched it zigzag toward him.

"Can I talk to you?" I asked. She still didn't look at me.

"Sure." Derek struck the disk but it stopped just barely within Casey's reach. She would have to practically stretch out on the table to hit it. She glared at Derek. He grinned innocently and raised an eyebrow at her. She leaned over as far as she could and hit the disk hard enough to get it back on Derek's side of the table. He smirked the whole time. The whole episode confused me but I decided I probably didn't want to know. My own problems were enough.

"Alone?" I asked, stealing a glance at Derek. He caught my gaze and his eyes narrowed some. I broke it as Casey finally looked at me. Her blue eyes tighten in concern. Did I really look that distraught?

"Score!" Derek shouted suddenly as the disk went inside Casey's slot. Apparently he won because the disk didn't pop back out.

"De-_rek_," Casey squealed, momentarily forgetting about me.

"Case-_y_," he mimicked. "You were about to leave anyway. Why delay the game?"

She only rolled her eyes and turned back to me.

"I'm sorry, Lizzie. Let's go talk," she said. Derek watched us leave with a concern look on his face and then went to grab Marti away from Pac-Man.

Casey led me to the once place all girls go to talk when in distress. The bathroom.

* * *

What did I do wrong? I mean she seemed like she wanted me to kiss her. Then again maybe…maybe I had misread her. Urr. I was so stupid. Where was Derek when I needed him?

"Edwin." Ah, right here. Steely, angry voice. Great. I glanced up at him. He glared down at me. Not good.

"Derek! Where's Casey?" I asked, attempting a smile to appease the beast before me.

"She's with Lizzie who appears to be upset. What did you do?" he breathed dangerously.

I debated dragging it out but looked him over once more. One, he was in over-protective brother mode. Lizzie was his sister, step-sister yes, but sister nonetheless. And he has the "hurt my siblings, I kill you" persona. Two, this interrupted his date with his new love interest, a death sentence in itself. And three, he's not a very patient person. So I just told him.

"I tried to kiss her," I groaned. He sighed and slid into the seat across from me.

"Explain." Well at least he wasn't in kill mode anymore.

"I don't know. She was laughing and then she stopped and we where just staring at each other and I…I…," I couldn't go on. Talking about such things to my brother, especially my suave, experienced brother, seemed too awkward and embarrassing.

"I get it," he mumbled. He leaned back in his seat and tilted his head toward the ceiling. He stayed that way for a moment before looking back at me.

"Here's what we'll do. Casey and I will stay with you two for a while until you can handle being near each other again. Then we'll go and you two get Marti back," he dictated.

"Where is Marti?" I just now realized she's no where around.

"Left her with Chris and Abigail." At my confused look he elaborated. "He's the guy who's running the music right now and she's the cleaning girl. They're in another room. The one behind that mirror."

He pointed across the room and I saw about a five foot wide mirror on the wall.

"Derek, how do you know all these people?" I asked him the question that's been bugging me all day.

"Grandma Winston likes to bring me here a lot. This is where her and Grandpa had their first date," he explained shrugging.

"Why didn't I know this?" Grandma had never told me anything about her and Grandpa's courtship.

"How often do you come to see them?"

I open my mouth to answer and then realize, it was Derek's birthday when I last saw them.

"My point exactly," he smirked. I gave him a light glare and turned to my drink. I took a sip and thought back to our problem. "So what do I do now?"

"Act like it didn't happen and try to move on. Oh, and I would avoid Casey for a little while," he smiled.

"But you two are staying with us," I exclaimed, anxiously. He grinned evilly at me.

"It's called revenge, little brother."

Oh, no.

* * *

Once Casey and I entered the bathroom, I suddenly lost my nerve to tell her what happened. I mean, it was just…difficult to tell her, especially after the Derek fiasco. I told her everything and her advice was normally sound. That's why I went to her about Derek. I had hoped she would calmly and methodically explain why my crush wouldn't work and how to get over it without telling Derek.

I never thought the color would drain from her face, turning ashen white and she would begin to pace, wringing her hands. I never thought she would be shocked into silence, glancing at me then to the walk that divided her room from his. I never thought that when she finally came to a decision she would resolutely say, "I'm going to tell Mom." I never thought I would be chasing after her, begging her not to. I never thought she would tell everyone the way she did. Yet she had and now I was standing in the bathroom, once again asking her advice.

"Lizzie, what happened?" Casey asked, pulling me away from my thoughts. She was looking at herself in the mirror, replacing loose strands of hair.

"Uh…" How did I explain it? I didn't even understand it. "What do you do…when a…when a boy's about to-to kiss you?"

"Kiss him back, I would think," she smiled at me. I gave her an odd look. I had thought she would've blown up at that.

"But what about if you're not sure…not sure that you like him as much as he…he likes you?" I continued. She turned to look at me through narrow eyes.

"Lizzie, if you're not sure if you like Edwin, the why did you talk me into a date with _Derek_, of all people, so you two could go out?" she asked dangerously.

"I…I thought that I did…but…uh…when he was going to kiss me I…wasn't sure anymore," I finished weakly. I couldn't believe I almost gave the plan away. Maybe I should have just gone to Derek. No, Derek's a guy (obviously) and talking to a guy about this just seemed too awkward.

Casey's eyes softened and she smiled at me and clasped her hands. Oh, no. I hate it when she does this. She was going to do that "girl talk" thing.

"Lizzie," she began sweetly, putting her arm around my shoulders. "Kissing a boy is a very serious thing…"

Gasp. No, really?

"…and if you're not ready for it, then just tell Edwin that you're rushing things."

Okay, so that's semi-decent. I guessed. Not really what I was wanting. Then something dawned on me.

"Is that why you wouldn't let Derek kiss you when he won the game?" I asked her, watching her face attentively. She looked shocked for a moment and then looked at the ground.

"Yeah, that's why." She gazed at the floor intently.

"Casey, do you like Derek?" I questioned her gently. Her arm moved from my shoulder and she crossed both of them over her chest.

"I don't know, Lizzie. There's times when I…couldn't hate anyone more and then…sometimes…it's like…like I could almost just picture us together…it's strange…it's….it's…I just…I just don't know," she shrugged. I was surprised she had given me that much. There was silence for a moment and then she looked back up at me and uncrossed her arms.

"Well, you ready to go face them?" she asked. I nodded, "Yeah, I guess."

And so, we left our safe haven to return to our complicated love lives.

* * *

"And then Sam hit the puck to Rob and he swung it to me. So I had to..." I tried to pay attention as Derek droned on about his glorious win at some hockey game. He's a horrible story teller. He either lives out important details or he gives too much detail. This story was a too much detail one. But I pretended to listen simply because he pretends to listen when I explain some new computer program I've discovered.

I gazed over toward the bathrooms and low and behold, there they are.

"Derek, the girls," I interrupted. He turned around and waved an arm. Casey spotted him and she and Lizzie headed toward us.

And so it began again.

* * *

Well, I'm not too happy with Casey. I can't seem to get inside her head and keep her in character. But anyways, I hope everything else was up to speed. And there's one chapter left unless I get some crazy idea and I continue it.But yeah, this one was short. Anyway please review.

Pinkmoon


	3. Just maybe

Rolly World

By Pinkmoon

Disclaimer: Well, if you haven't gotten the point by now that I don't own LWD then you never will.

AN: First, thank you so much for the wonderful reviews; you have no idea what it does for my self-esteem.

Second, I am so sorry this took so long to post but I have this major research paper for English so that's were my main focus has been.

Third, I also wanted to apologize for the last chapter. I went back over it after I posted it and saw some misspelled words or other grammar errors that I didn't catch during my editing process and it's mainly due to the fact that I was too lazy to really edit. So I'm sorry about that. Anyways, this chapter won't suffer the same grammatical mistake. Now on to the conclusion and I hope you enjoy it.

* * *

III

"Do you want a drink?" Derek asked Casey after five minutes of silence. Once she and Lizzie had joined us, talking had suddenly ceased except for Casey's question as to Marti's whereabouts.

Casey was sitting next to Derek and gazing at the skaters on the rink and humming along with the music. She slowly dragged her eyes toward Derek and regarded him for a moment. She then glanced over at Lizzie and me.

"Why don't we eat lunch instead?" she asked, blue eyes once again resting on Derek.

He shrugged, "If you want to. I'll go get Marti." He was sitting next to the wall across from me so Casey had to get up too. Once they we're standing Derek leaned over toward Casey's ear and whispered something to her. She did nothing. Then he skated off.

Casey sat back down and sighed. She stared off into space for a moment and then she looked at me.

"Edwin, you have one weird brother," she declared suddenly.

"I won't argue with that." I sipped my drink. Casey smiled. Lizzie shook her head. We remained quiet as we awaited Derek's return. After a minute, I saw him skating toward us, clutching the hand of a chattering Marti.

"And then Chris let me pick which songs to play," Marti exclaimed as she sat next to Casey.

"I'm glad you liked him," he mumbled and looked at Casey. "Did you decide what all of you wanted?"

After a collective head shake, Derek rolled his eyes and motioned for us to stand. Casey sent him an annoyed look but obeyed anyways.

We walked back up to the cashier and lucky us, no one was in line. I glanced at the menu as I heard Miss Perky gush, "Hello and thank you for skating at Rolly World. What can I get you?"

"Hello, Thalia. I want two slices of pizza, cheese nachos with jalapeño peppers and a Coke-Cola," Derek rambled off.

"That's it?" Thalia asked in a hopelessly confused tone. She looked horrified.

"I have to pay for five," Derek immediately began to explain, rushing the words out as quickly as he could. "It's not you're cookies. You know I love the cookies. I just want everyone else to get what they want."

Thalia looked close to tears. Strange chick.

"If you're sure," she mumbled, dejected.

"Thalia," Derek whined.

"Don't Thalia me, Mr. Derek Venturi. You always buy my chocolate chip cookies," she broke out sobbing. "I work so hard on those and you're the only one who buys them and I'm a horrible cook…."

Derek sighed and tilted his head back. He was counting to ten. I looked over at Lizzie who looked like she was about to start laughing. Casey looked hopelessly confused. Marti was just watching Derek. Time to save the day, Edwin. Yay, me.

"Um, Thalia, is it?" At her teary nod I continued. "You make chocolate chip cookies? Those are my favorite. I'd love to buy some."

She instantly stopped crying. A smile blossomed on her face and she exuberantly exclaimed, "Really? Let me go get them!"

She practically skipped into another room.

Derek turned to me and said in a semi-awed voice, "You are a genius."

Well, who am I to argue with The Derek?

"Explain," Casey demanded, gaining my attention.

"She's extremely sensitive," Derek shrugged and then tilted his head to the side. "Or bipolar. I haven't quite figured it out yet."

"I would say bipolar," Lizzie mumbled, laughter in her voice.

"If she is, she has very short manic-depression cycles," Casey grumbled, eyes on the menu.

"What's bipolar?" Marti asked, looking up at us.

"You're really happy and then you're really sad," Derek explained.

"Oh," she mumbled and then exclaimed, "I want pizza!"

"Alright, Smarti. What about the rest of you?" Derek asked, looking at Casey. He always looked at Casey.

"I don't know…" Casey mumbled, disdain for the food in her voice.

"If pizza is fine with everyone, then I can order a whole one and it'll be cheaper," Derek suggested since no one was forthcoming with ideas.

"What, running short on cash?" Casey snickered. Derek grinned. "Just spending it on my dream girl."

Casey face turned so red, a rose would have been jealous. Her eyes snapped to his face and she gaped at him. Before either of them could do anything, Thalia returned. She carried a plate full of partly burnt cookies. No wonder Derek was trying to get out of buying those.

"How many would you like?" she gushed, gently placing the plate on the counter.

"Two," I answered, hesitantly.

"Just two?" she looked like she was about to bawl again.

"Well, maybe I'll get one for everyone, so five?" I half-asked, hoping she wouldn't start crying again.

"Great! That's fifty cents each!" she squealed. I handed her the money and took the cookies. Derek altered his order and Casey ordered hers and Marti's drinks. Thalia placed our order and rung up the price. Derek gave her the money and we stood around as she got everything together. Once everything was together, Derek and I grabbed it all and went to sit back down.

The girls slid into the booth first, Casey and Lizzie across from each other. Marti sat next to Casey. Derek and I arranged everything on the table and sat down. Then Derek proved that he is much bolder than I'll ever be.

He placed his arm on the back of the seat, letting his hand come to rest on Casey's shoulder. She stiffened and turned to him. The two did that weird conversation with the eyes thing and Casey turned to the pizza and started grabbing slices.

I glanced at Lizzie. Casey didn't shrug Derek's hand off.

* * *

Good grief, Derek doesn't play around, does he? Poor Casey, I can only imagine what she's thinking. Probably over analyzing it and coming up with a million reasons as to why his hand is right there.

"So Derek, how do you know about this place?" Casey asked, taking a delicate bite of her pizza.

"My grandmother likes to come here a lot. Her and Grandpa had their first kiss on the rink." At his words, Casey blushed and roughly tore another bite off. They hadn't…not already…have they?  
This is too confusing.

"So, what games have you played or did you just battle each other at air hockey?" Edwin asked after minutes of silence.

"Just did the air hockey," Derek mumbled around his mouthful of pepperoni pizza.

"Derek, swallow before you talk," Casey reprimanded. Derek rolled his eyes and flicked her neck with the fingers resting on her shoulder. She jumped and turned to glare at him, but he was conveniently busy with Marti.

Marti, who didn't like pepperonis today, was peeling them off her slice and feeding them to Derek. She giggled each time his mouth grabbed one out of her fingers, playfully gnawing on a digit before he backed off.

He looked up at Casey and smirked. He bit into his slice and slowly started to draw patterns on her shoulder with his fingers. Casey looked away but still didn't move his hand. If he was that annoying then why didn't she do anything? I wondered.

"Mr. Parker bought this place with he was eighteen," Derek started speaking.

"That young?" I asked since no one else was forthcoming with conversional tidbits.

He nodded, "Mr. Parker bought it when roller skating was still big, especially in the States. Parents fought him, of course, but he didn't care. The night he opened he met Evangeline Massey, soon to be Mrs. Charles Parker."

"Are you trying to insinuate something?" Casey asked softly, staring at him disdainfully. Where in the world did that come from?

"No, I'm trying to hold conversation with our younger siblings who I don't talk to often. Do you have a problem with that?" His voice barely contained his annoyance and the hand on Casey shoulder tightened. They glowered at each other and I felt utterly confused. It was like I had missed something. Just what had the two of them been doing this whole time?

"Smerek?" Marti's voice ended the glaring contest as Derek looked down to see his littlest sister squished between him and Casey.

"Yeah?" he asked backing off some so Marti wasn't so confined.

"Do you think if Eric had kissed Ariel sooner the witch would have died and Ariel would have gotten her voice back?" she asked in all seriousness.

Derek stared at her, trying his hardest to figure out what in the world she was talking about. He looked at Casey, but she was still mad at him, and merely cocked an eyebrow at him. He semi-glared and turned to me. I guess I'm just sweeter than Casey because I decided to help him out. I mouthed the words '_The Little Mermaid_' to him and recognition entered his eyes.

_The Little Mermaid_ was currently Marti's favorite movie and everyone had watched it with her at least three times. Though in Derek's case, it was more like twenty. But he always drifted off to sleep at some point during the movie so it equaled out. Luckily, he had seen enough to have a general idea of what Marti was talking about.

"Well," he began, "if he had kissed her sooner…well he probably wouldn't have killed the witch or Ariel might not have…have seen her dad again."

Marti's face scrunched up. "So it's a good thing he didn't kiss her?"

"Kind of."

And suddenly, I was glad Edwin and I hadn't kissed. I can't really explain it. It was kind of like I was glad that nothing happened while I was so confused about my feelings. I don't know.

But I took a bite of my pizza in better spirits.

"So," I began after I swallowed, "just how did Mr. Parker met his wife?"

Derek smiled that killer smile at me (just how could Casey resist him?) and continued his earlier conversation.

"Well, Mr. Parker was about to take a dinner break when in comes strolling Miss Evangeline Massey. Mr. Parker decides he rather stay and get to know this pretty red-head and walks over and begins talking to her. Before he knows it, they've spent the whole night together and most of the employees are getting ready to leave. So he walks her out to her car and gets her number."

"And he doesn't kiss her?" Edwin asked semi-seriously, tearing a bite off the crust.

"Don't know. Mrs. Parker's the one who told me that and she's the sort who doesn't kiss and tell."

"You're really close to the Parkers, aren't you?" Casey asked, leaning forward a little to look at his face. Derek shrugged, looked at the table, and mumbled, "Yeah, I guess so."

"So," Edwin broke in before Casey could question Derek further, "do they do couples only or stuff like that here?"

He and Derek shared a look for a split second before Derek answered. "Depends on who's doing the music and if there's some special occasion going on."

"Just how many people work here?" Casey asked, taking a sip of water. Derek finished the last of his pizzia

"Well," Derek began, leaning back and getting comfortable, "There's Mara, Thalia, Chris who's running the music, Damien who ran the music earlier, and Abigail and Heather, the clean up girls."

"And Mr. Parker," Edwin added smartly before swallowing a sip of coke.  
"Obviously," Derek glared at him while Edwin merely smiled.

"Just six people?" Casey asked hurriedly, as though she was trying to avoid a confrontation.

Derek looked back over at her and his fingers began moving over her shoulder again. She glanced at him and they shared another weird look. That's getting kind of annoying.

"They hire more during the summer. Mr. Parker claims that with this kind of crowd, he doesn't need that many workers," Derek said, watching her the whole time while his fingers started to play with her earring. Casey broke her gaze and turned sip to her water.

The pizza was almost gone and Derek started to look like he wanted to leave. Casey was still consuming a slice and looked perfectly content where she was at. Marti, oblivious to the tension as always, chattered about some friend of hers from school. We gave non-committal answers and asked general questions. It isn't like we were trying to ignore her but she tends to use that wonderful imagination of her and usually sails past our comprehension.

Casey consumed her last bite and took one more sip of her ice cold water.

"Marti, do you want to stay here with Lizzie and Edwin and finish up your story?" Derek asked.

"What are you going to do?" she asked, horrified at loosing her most precious listener.

"Casey and I need to talk." He looked over at Casey as he said this, raising his hand to rub his fingers up and down her neck. She swallowed and turned to gaze at him. Just how many times have they stared at each other now?

"Okay," Marti sighed and frowned. She slouched down, despondent. He grabbed her chin and tipped her face up to him.

"Don't worry, we'll skate before we leave, just us two," he smiled. She smiled back. He slid out of the seat. Marti and a reluctant Casey followed suit. Derek extended his hand toward Casey. She stared wearily at it, than at him. With a sigh she took his hand and they skated away.

Marti sat back down. I caught Edwin's eye for a second and my stomach dropped. She started jabbering again.

* * *

Somebody curse that idiot of brother of mine. Idiot left me alone with my dream girl, who happens to be my step-sister and who I keep having awkward moments with, and with my six-year-old nonsensical sister. Please somebody curse him.

"Then Evan the elf grabbed Daphne and made her do this weird dance and…"

Yeah, I still have no idea what she was talking about. Bored, I glanced at the skaters and spotted Casey and Derek. They were on the rink standing against the railing. It looked like they were fighting (typical) but they were too far away and the music too loud for me to hear them. Which meant I had to get over there.

I had to know what was going on. I mean, if your older brother was on a date with your step-sister and they just started arguing, wouldn't you want to know what's going on? Wait. You know what, don't answer that.

I turned back to Lizzie and Marti. As soon as Marti paused to breathe, I jumped in the conversation.

"I have to go to the restroom," I mumbled. Lizzie nodded, though she looked a little peeved that I was leaving her alone with Marti. I stood and skated away as quickly as I could.

Since I didn't want Derek to kill me later, I tried to stay behind this group of girls until I reached my subjects. Once I was in hearing range, I sat at one of the seats in front of the rental skates counter, my back to them. They were ten or so feet away, but they were screaming so loud, it might as well have been ten inches.

"Look, princess," I heard Derek taunt, "just because your on a date with me, doesn't mean you can't at least pretend you're having fun. Edwin and Lizzie kept sending us weird looks."

"Well, maybe if you weren't all over me, they wouldn't have been 'sending us weird looks'," Casey argued.

"Oh, like you weren't enjoying that!" he shot back.

"I wasn't!" she declared, fiercely

"Oh, so you didn't enjoy it when I kissed?" he countered.

Wait, what? They've kissed already? Where was I?

"You jerk!" Casey screeched.

I waited for her to say something else but nothing came. After an agonizing few seconds, I couldn't take it, and risked looking at them. Casey had raised her hand, like she was going to slap him, but Derek had an iron tight clasp on her wrist. She was glaring at him, and he, well, he looked at her with a mixture of anger, want and something else, something unexplainable, unnamable.

Suddenly, Casey reached up with her free hand. She grabbed the back of Derek's head, jerking his face toward hers. Their lips crashed into each other and Derek instantly let her wrist go. His hands grabbed her waist, pulling her closer to him. Casey's fingers frantically pulled at his hair. He pushed her back against the railing, (how in the world did he manage that in roller blades and without breaking the kiss?) and his hands started moving up and down her back.

I sat, staring in amazement. Did mean…well, did it mean anything? Was Derek finally going to get what he wanted, Casey MacDonald? Or when the kiss ended, would they just start fighting again? And just how long were they going to kiss? Don't they have to breathe or something? And they're in public and Derek hates PDA.

Finally, after what seems like an hour, Derek pulled back. He said something but I couldn't hear it over the music playing. Casey smiled, said something, and then they kissed again. It wasn't as crazy as the one before, just quick and simple. Then they just started skating again, holding hands.

I stood and made my way back to Marti and Lizzie. I thought about telling Lizzie what I saw but figured it could wait it until we got home. I mean, I couldn't tell her in front of Marti and I didn't know if I could say anything when it was just us without Derek walking up on us and finding out I saw and then kill me for spying. So, the way I figured, it was just safer to wait.

As I rolled up to the table, I was just in time to her Marti ramble on about some fight at her school.

"…Camilla said that it started when Martin Smith saw Kyle Walker talking to his girlfriend, April Long, and he got really mad and…"

I sat down and began to process what I had just seen. The rest of the hour dragged by slowly. I snuck a few more glances at Casey and Derek but they eventually disappeared.

Marti dominated the conversation and by hour's end, I was ready to hand her off. I mean, there's only so much of a six-year-olds conversation I can take and anyway, Derek always had more patience with her than I ever did.

"Marti, do you want to go find Derek and Casey?" I asked the moment there was a break in her monologue. She nodded and the three of us stood and began to search out our older siblings.

We found them in the arcade, playing one of those pinball machines. Casey was playing the game, Derek stood behind her, hand on her hip. He was whispering in her ear, the other hand playing with her earring. She glared at the game and hissed, "Shut up." He just laughed.

"Smerek!" Marti cried, running toward him. He looked down at her, surprise on his face, then at Lizzie and me. Casey stayed focused on her game.

"Hey Marti," he said, lightly while glaring at us. Well, at me really. He continued, barely containing his annoyance, "What are you doing here?"

"Well, hour's up so see ya," I hurriedly explained and grabbed Lizzie's hand. Best thing to do in a situation like that was get in and get out fast.

"So," Lizzie asked once we left the arcade, "Did you really go to the bathroom earlier?"

I looked at her, slightly surprised that she knew me that well. "How?"

"I saw you sit down, and I saw Casey and Derek," she mumbled, looking at the ground. That's right. I had, surprisingly, forgotten about her crush on Derek through out the chaos of the day. If she still liked him that had to hurt to see. It would be like the Scott thing all over again (minis the cheating and three angry sisters).

"And?" I prompted.

She shrugged and smiled softly at me. "I'm fine with it, if that's what's you're wondering. I don't…think of him like that anymore."

I nodded and dropped the subject. Then we just kind of wondered around for a while. After ten or so minutes, Lizzie glanced over at the rink and a determined look passed over her face.

"Do you want to go skating?" she asked. Oh, no, I thought. How do I get out of this one? I'm a horrible skater; I hate it. Add in the fact that I didn't want to break someone's arm that day, then you could realize my reluctance.

"Uh…"

"Great, let's go." She grabbed my hand and pulled me toward the rink. Yeah, can someone explain to me how she got yes out of "uh"?

Then over the speakers, I heard the opening the notes of a song I really didn't like.

"There you see her

Sitting there across the way…"

I looked at the back of Lizzie's head and mentally groaned. Prefect timing.

* * *

So I like skating and Edwin, for some reason, had been avoiding the rink all day. I was going to skate before we left. Nothing was going to deter me, even the fact that my date seem to have an aversion to it.

We hit the wooden floor and Edwin grabbed the rail. Weird. My hand was still in his and I noticed we weren't skating very fast.

"Ed? Is everything okay?" I asked. He nodded vigorously but he had a death grip on the rail. And he wasn't picking up his feet; just kind of scooting them along.

"Edwin, can you skate?" I asked. I was willing to get off if he couldn't. I mean, knowing Derek, he probably never thought about if any of us could skate when he picked this place.

"Of course, I can!" he snapped at me. That angered me. It was pretty obvious that he couldn't and yet, he was going to be typical male and not admit it.

"Then lets go to the center, there's less people," I suggested as sweetly as I could and pulled him toward the center of the rink. He protested of course. And I didn't listen.

"Lizzie…" I was not listening.

"Lizzie…" Sorry, I was still mad.

"Lizzie!" Okay, I was annoyed now.  
"What?" I finally snapped around only to have him ram into me. His hands grabbed my waist as he tried to maintain his balance. My arms instantly wrapped around his neck as I felt myself slip downward. Our legs tangled as we finally found our stability. How do I always end up in these types of situations?

I looked up into his face, inches from mine, and was drawn into those brown orbs. His breath brushed against my lips. My eyelids slowly drifted shut and his face inched closer. His breath rushed over my face and then, I felt the softest brush of his lips. My eyes cracked open and I saw him staring at me mystified. I wanted him to kiss me again. So I did something I never thought I be bold enough to do. I leaned up the short distance between us and kissed him. He kissed me right back.

Maybe Derek's plan wasn't such a bad idea after all.

* * *

Well, I hope everyone enjoyed this and thank you for reading the story.I hope it didn't seemed too rushed or anything. And again, I'm sorry this took so long to get out and I hope the wait was worth it. Please review.

Pinkmoon


End file.
